Our Family Trip to Alaska 2013 (Part One)

Hello Peeps!!

I thought I would go ahead and start posting some photos of our Family trip to Alaska.  I am going to start out with some photos of our arrival to Alaska and of my BIL & SIL home (where we stayed).

This is the view right outside of the Juneau Alaska Airport.

Here is my BIL John with my FIL Pat and my boys.  At this airport you can just drive right up and pick up your guests....nice and small.

Here is my SIL Kim and my MIL Margaret.  We arrived around 9:30 pm Alaska time (1:30 am our time).  I forgot the time difference and called my mother...lol.

On our way to John and Kim's house, we stopped to view a Glacier (I should know which one....lol..but I saw so many, I forgot their names...lol).  John, and the boys.  Yes...my youngest is my goofy one in the front, he is 13.

I LOVE the color and texture of the glaciers.  Beautiful!!

It was kind of funny, because we were the only people on the plane that went from Seattle to Alaska, that were wearing shorts.  Everyone was dressed in pants, sweatshirts etc.  Lucky for us, Alaska was having some Michigan Weather while we were there...lol.

Here are a few photos of John and Kim's home in Auke Bay.  That is where we stayed for most of our trip.  Which we arrived on the 13th and departed the 22nd.  Their home is the one in the center back of the photo.  I was standing on what would be a driveway to the water, which they converted to a garden area (GORGEOUS).

Here is a view from the house, looking back toward the water.

Their yard is so fun.  Most mornings we had breakfast at the picnic table.  We had pancakes, and blueberry sausage patties (vegan of course...they were super tasty). Caleb (my oldest, 15), Peter (my hubby) and Jon (BIL) eating and getting things ready.

  This was our first morning, and our plan was to canoe/kayak from Jon & Kim's home out to "Three Tree Island" (that is what they call it, because it is tiny..lol).  Everyone getting everything ready, and my FIL relaxing in some nice chairs that are located on the next level down of the garden and across from the picnic table.  See that tent to the left of my hubby??  That is where Kim and John slept while we were all taking over their home (I am pretty sure they have Bear Grylls on speed dial...lol).

Here is another shot of the chairs (Jon built them).  Caleb was pretty much ready to go.  So Peter, Caleb, Gabe, Pat, Jon and myself were going to travel to "Three Tree Island."

Here is Kim and our destination in the background, it is the tiny tiny island in the center of the photo.

John telling me something....about how cold the water was....and how it wouldn't be good to fall in.  One of the things is, that a ton of boats (whale tour boats, fishermen, fairies) go through here. So we were going in a group, so we could be seen.  Not sure the terms...but we did have to watch the wake from the boats. BTW...My routine was to get up around 6 Alaska time (it was light out at 4am there...so the first day I was up really early..lol).  I would walk down this beach and collect beach sea glass and any other goodies I felt like picking up.

Here we go.  This is one of those trips where you look out and you think....oh..that it will take 20 minutes...and then you realize you were wrong...lol.  It was an all day event.

  Here is a close up of where we were going.  It looks so tiny, but it was a decent size.  

My MIL Margaret and SIL Kim went to another area to get close up photos of the island.  You can see how two boats just happened to go by.

Pete, Caleb, Jon and Pat all exploring.

Gabe standing with in the Fireweed.  Beautiful!!  Great view of the other mountains from the island.

View of homes from the island.

 Here we are coming back.

Gabe

Caleb (First one there and back of course...lol).

Pete

Pat

John and I stopped to check the crab pot, which was empty.

Pete and I relaxing.  John and Kim fishing.  We all did some fishing...resting...fishing...lol.

Cute little red squirrel that would eat Kim's strawberries....lol

Another visitor.  There were two sets of Eagles that I would see and hear each morning.

Ravens too.

More shots of the yard.
Jon found the stove piece and converted it to a little fountain.  Super cool.  He carried all these rocks in his canoe to build the surrounding.  The rocks are gorgeous!  Particularly when they are wet. 

Here is a close up of a wet one.  They are a greenish color.  Beautiful!!

Another look at the flower garden to the left of the pond.

They have different rocks around each of their gardens.  Kim has a lot of beautiful plants too.

Here is the stairs that are to the left of the garden above.

Here is where we all took our shoes and coats off etc.  The door to get in, is to the left of the photo.

Here is the walk to the front of the house.

Front of house.

What you can't see, is that Kim has pots and containers filled with all the beach sea glass and other goodies she has collected from the ocean.

Here is the shed.  It has been repaired a few times.  The Bears get in there...kind of claw their way in.

On another note.  One of the times John & Kim visited around 10 or 11 years ago, John loaned me this shirt.  He made a big fuss about how it was his favorite...lol.  So...Here is Peter wearing the shirt (my idea at humor of course)...and John admiring it...and then finally realizing it is his shirt from a gazillion years ago.  What a goof!

Here is Pete, John, Pat and Margaret.  This was one of our daily walks in the am on the beach.

We had a great first day!  Here is a sneak at my next Alaska Post.  We hiked from the bottom to the top of Mt. Roberts.

We started with one son trying to tell the other son ....what was going to happen...lol.  I love it when they try to parent each other...lol. We are at the base of Mt. Roberts.

I am sure you have endured enough for one day....lol.  I will get some more photos up later in the week!

Hugs

Thank you for visiting!!

Heather